Month: September 2017

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Nowhere to go…the challenges of being homeless and LGBT during a hurricane.

September 7, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Nowhere to go…the challenges of being homeless and LGBT during a hurricane.

There was nowhere for 19-year-old Sean Chavez to go when Hurricane Harvey thundered into Houston less than two weeks ago. The homeless teenager, who is bisexual, sat on a sidewalk drenched in rain. It came down with such fury that it got into his lungs. A sick feeling grew in his stomach. He was getting cold. “I couldn’t really breath,” Chavez told NBC News. “I was praying I could get a place to get out.” Then, he said, a car pulled over and a woman stepped out. She asked him if he had a place to go.

HEALTH

Transgender and homeless in Portland, a rising trend.

September 7, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Transgender and homeless in Portland, a rising trend.

When she first considered transitioning from a man to a woman, Sophia Conquest made a checklist of “bad and good things.” On the bad side: As a transgender woman, she’d essentially have a target on her back. “I knew it was going to happen,” Conquest says. The day before WW interviewed her last month in Pioneer Courthouse Square, Conquest says, a child threw rocks at her. Earlier that week, she adds, a woman physically assaulted her in a confrontation that began with the woman insulting Conquest with slurs, like “She Man.” Conquest eventually fended her off with her purse while running away.

DESTINATIONS

LGBT hate crimes in Scotland double in four years.

September 6, 2017 compassq Comments Off on LGBT hate crimes in Scotland double in four years.

HATE crimes against gay and bisexual people in Scotland has almost doubled in four years, shock stats show. A hard-hitting survey by a charity revealed almost one fifth of those who took part had suffered homophobic abuse this year compared with just 9% in 2013.

DESTINATIONS

Greece is on the gay travel radar.

September 6, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Greece is on the gay travel radar.

Gay Star News, the biggest Gay Media in the United Kingdom, with more than 1.000.000 monthly visitors, recommends Greece as the ideal destination for gay holidays in September, Greek Reporter writes. The initiative is part of Travel by Interest’s international campaign, “September in Greece.” In collaboration with the Editors of Gay Star News, Travel by Interest’s Hotel Experts have selected 10 ideal destinations for Gay Holidays in September.

5 THINGS TO KNOW

Ironman & gayman…a time to come out.

September 6, 2017 compassq Comments Off on Ironman & gayman…a time to come out.

Opening up to a fellow triathlete, a complete stranger, about my boyfriend as we both nervously awaited the start of Ironman Syracuse in June was the moment I decided I was comfortable enough about being gay to accept myself and tell the world. I was standing on the beach of the Jamesville, N.Y., reservoir at Syracuse Ironman 70.3 and having trouble zipping my wetsuit.

HEROES

“Christianity and Queerness” by a gay, Christian pastor.

September 6, 2017 compassq Comments Off on “Christianity and Queerness” by a gay, Christian pastor.

As a gay, Christian pastor, Gary LeCroy says conversation is the first step to ending negative connotations of homosexuality. “I think a lot of the people who are opposed to [homosexuality] have never sat and actually dialogued with people who are,” LeCroy said. LeCroy was the keynote speaker for the “Christianity and Queerness” event on Tuesday, Sept. 5. The University of Nebraska-Lincoln Lutheran Center and LGBTQA+ Resource Center partnered to host the event in the Jackie Gaughan Multicultural Center.